My fellow libertarians and independents, we are the Sons and Daughters of Liberty. Never forget that. I have recently seen a fellow compatriot fall on their own sword as they were discouraged by a vocal and militant group representing the generally corrupt establishment within the Democratic Party who exist to protect the gate.
But, we haven't come here to look at their fine gate, and then go home.
We came here to crash it!
Now, I intended to write today about how the purist partisans have again begun the process of letting themselves support the exact same establishment that has been abusing them all along, but I will have to examine the extent of the corruption of the establishment tomorrow, as it seems that morale is low among the freedom-lovers who have voted for democrats for the reason of opposing the tyranny of war, and the tyranny of exectutive privilege, and the tyranny of the debt society, and the tyranny of the building police state.
We must stand strong here, and I hope to inspire you to do just that!
What did the Sons and Daughters of Liberty do when the British enforced on them taxation without representation? Did they say "GBCW!"? Did they say, "Screw you guys, I'm going home!"?
No, they took the valuable cargo the British held dear and threw it into the Boston Harbor.
And here, we face the same problem. The partisan purists upholding the establishment has attempted to take our vote without representation. They honestly believe they can govern based on ideals we never agreed to when we voted for them because they "seemed the less corrupt option", because they "seemed they might end the war".
Their belief is that we are useful idiots in the effort to attain their ideals, that they have no duty to offer representation to us whatsoever.
But of course we know that Markos has invited us to this party for a very serious reason, which is that we put people powered, principled positions ahead of the establishment every time we vote and organize. In the past this level of extreme principle has lead us to support quixotic 3rd party candidates even though we knew their chances at succeeding were nil. We care about the freedom of the people and the principle behind that freedom that much.
But, we now have the opportunity to bring that principle within the gates of the Democratic Party, but we seem to be afraid, or get discouraged far too easily.
We are at the gate, and can see that Markos has kindly unblocked it for us should we choose to crash it open. He can't lead the way as it would anger those he intends for us to change, yet we are his guests.
But it is up to us to crash that gate!
What better place than here?
What better time than now?
Did Martin Luther King Jr. say in his most famous speech, "I have a dream... GBCW!"
Did Ghandi say,
"First they ignore you,
then they mock you,
then they fight you,
then GBCW"?
No, the great freedom-fighters that destroyed tyranny and corruption never said that.
The Sons and Daughters of Liberty rose up and boldly proclaimed "Give me liberty or give me death!"
And that is the solemn reponsibility you owe to our forefathers, to yourself, and, if we want to get very symbolic, to your posterity, to stand up and live up to those same principles today!
Write a diary about the interaction of your definition of libertarianism, or independent philosophy, with the "Democratic" name brand and current corrupt establishment as often as possible. Keep in mind that purist partisans of the establishment will target your comments as a type of meta-vengeance for any diary you write, so you probably shouldn't use them. This isn't really a test, just as the Sons and Daughters of Liberty had to resort to some sort of subversion to win their freedom, we are unfortunately being forced to commit the same today.
We will build a presence here, and our voices will be heard, and we will crash that gate! Hold your head up high, for you have nothing to shame when you serve such a purpose!
As usual, I would suggest any Son or Daughter of Liberty not to comment below as you will become a target for an autoban by the establishment.
Update I: Wiscmass, why don't you quote the rest of the FAQ?
Here, I'll do it for you:
The battle for the party is not an ideological battle. It's one between establishment and anti-establishment factions. And as I've said a million times, the status quo is untenable
The majority of people posting here fall on the liberal side of the US political spectrum, however people of conservative views are welcome to come and debate. If you are polite, you will be treated politely.
Hopefully I don't have to post that in every diary I write.
Update II: Just found an excellent comment by the owner of this site, Markos.
First of all (9+ / 0-)
I'm surprised at those who don't understand the difference between the Libertarian Party and libertarians. They are not the same thing. The former is an extremist and ideologically rigid organization. The latter is a political philosophy. And like all philosophies, open to interpretation, redefining, and evolution.
Second of all, those of you expressing horror at the concept of Libertarian Democrats best brace yourselves -- that's exactly what's rising in the Mountain West, in places like Colorado, Montana, Wyoming, eastern Washington, and even Idaho. It's what Paul Hackett represented in OH-02. It's what Jim Webb is in Virginia.
It's the rising face of the Democratic Party in places where the Democratic Party hasn't had a prayer of winning in recent years/decades.
by kos on Mon Oct 02, 2006 at 10:20:46 AM PDT
Update III: Elise, please show me where in this diary I am advocating for a Republican candidate. Also notice there is no rule which states that you must reply to comments on your own diary.
Also, to others reading this, keep in mind that it is the same group of establishment supporters that are going overboard below, have been basically stalking my account for a week, and would target me and my comments if I left them open, even though I haven't written anything more inflammatory here than Markos wrote in his own book, Crashing the Gate.
Update IV: I certainly have been writing at this site long before I ever knew any anti-establishment somewhat libertarian candidate was running for office, back when the Danish cartoons issue arose. I've always spoken of the principles of libertarianism here, and have always appreciated Markos's effort to incorporate libertarianism into the Democratic name brand in order to crash the gates of establishment politics.
I canvassed for Kerry in my 70% consevative county, and inspired everyone I knew to vote for Sherrod Brown, even though afterwards the guy didn't have the guts to show up for the war defunding bill. I suppose it isn't good enough to have voted for Democrats, but I must also perform some ritual of Dem purity, and never ever mention a person of any other party in a positive light? Nope, no Dem purity test for me, I'm an American first and foremost.
Also, my original tags for this diary were "liberty, freedom, libertarian, sons and daughters of liberty, crashing the gate, libertarian democrat", obviously that has been changed by those with an agenda, but I just thought I'd let the people know who might be trying to put the tags in context with this diary.
Update V: I would like to thank everyone for their inciteful contributions to this diary. I will be starting the next part of my series on libertarianism tomorrow. Have a good evening.